Virginia Attorney General rescues truck driver from burning rig

A truck driver was rescued from her burning rig by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli after he and his driver noticed the back of her semi-truck was engulfed in flames, according to a report by Richmond’s WWBT News, an NBC affiliate.

Cuccinelli said he noticed smoke coming from the back tires of a semi-truck with a heavy load. Cuccinelli, a Virginia gubernatorial candidate, said the driver — who did not need to be taken to the hospital, and whose name was not released — wasn’t aware of the situation.

According to the WWBT report, Cuccinelli’s driver, Cory Chenard, pulled their car up along side of the semi and saw the back tires of the trailer engulfed in flames. It was clear the driver was not aware of the problem. Chenard honked his horn to get the driver’s attention and Cuccinelli yelled to the driver out the window to pull over.

As soon as both vehicles came to a stop, the Attorney General went to assess the situation.

“I skipped by the cab back to the back of the truck and, sure enough, it was still on fire,” he said.

Cuccinelli helped the driver out of the cab of the truck and then went in search of a fire extinguisher. After finding one, Cuccinelli instructed Chenard to call for help and then ran to the back of the truck to help the driver put out the flames.

Cuccinelli is currently up against Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the race for Virginia’s governorship that will be decided in November 2013.